Gallery - Picture of the day - Image 1 - New Scientist

Gallery - Picture of the day - Image 1 - New Scientist: "The sky goes dark over the statue of late Chinese leader Mao Zedong in Wuhan, Hubei province as a lunar shadow moves over the city during a solar eclipse.

The longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century cast its shadow over western India, then headed for China, plunging hundreds of millions of people into temporary darkness as it passed halfway round the Earth.

In China, researchers attempted to conduct an audacious once-in-a-century experiment, testing the theory that gravity drops slightly during a total eclipse.

(Image: AFP/Getty Images)"